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I Was Too Busy for Heart Disease Until It Almost Killed Me

Vicky seemed like an ultra-healthy, tennis playing 50-year-old. But then the extreme fatigue hit. The diagnosis? A near total blockage in a heart artery known as the "widow maker." She had an artery-clearing angioplasty, which brought a healthy flush back into her face (it had a grayish tint due to lack of blood flow.) Find out more about her symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and life after she came dangerously close to a major heart attack.

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Stress hurt my health

To understand how the blockage developed, my physician and I looked at my family history, my diet and lifestyle, my cholesterol levels. None of it added up to the extent of blockage that I had. And then we looked at my stress levels.

The realization that stress was the probable cause was so hard for me to deal with. I’ve got a very demanding, fulfilling, and challenging job, yet I have to keep my life in balance. It’s a continual process.

This was a tremendous wake-up call for me. I think the most important thing is to really listen to your body; it will tell you so much. We need to take care of ourselves and work for balance so that we don’t put too much stress on ourselves.